WIREDGOV

EU Home Affairs ministers on December 5 in Brussels discussed the issues related to certain aspects of the right to free movement of persons within the EU and welcomed the final report by the European Commission analysing the right to free movement and legal situation in this area.

“Free movement is a fundamental EU value that we must guard strongly. This right must be accompanied by obligations for the EU citizens and any attempt to abuse this right and the social security systems should be met with the adequate and effective response,” said chair of the Home Affairs Council, Lithuanian Minister of Interior Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas.

Concerns of the abuse of the right to free movement of EU citizens were raised in the joint letter of Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, sent to the Council Presidency in April 2013.

The Council discussed the Commission Communication on the work of the Task Force Mediterranean and took note of the proposed set of actions. Five main areas of action were identified to prevent loss of lives at sea: strengthening cooperation with the third countries; promoting more active participation in the resettlement activities and development of Regional protection programmes; enhancing fight against trafficking, smuggling and organised crime; reinforcing border surveillance contributing to the protection of saving of lives of migrants in the Mediterranean; assistance and solidarity with the Member States dealing with high migration pressure.

“The Communication makes clear that the EU has tools and measures to prevent new tragedies at sea and we must use them as widely as possible. The Presidency, acting on the Conclusions of the European Council in October, will inform the European Council President on the results of today’s discussion,” said Minister Barakauskas.

Ministers have also discussed the issue of the so-called foreign fighters, persons who fight in the armed conflict zones (Syria in particular) and return to the European Union, possibly endangering the security of the EU and the Member States. The EU Counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles De Kerchove stressed that their number is on the rise. The Ministers noted that to counteract rising threats to the internal security of the EU, proposed actions should be implemented, namely prevention, information exchange, criminal justice response and cooperation with the third countries.

On the issue of the application of the Schengen legislation to Bulgaria and Romania, the Council was not able to reach the unanimous agreement due to the lack of political consensus. The Council discussed the current situation and decided to return to the issue in 2014.

As the current Stockholm Programme – the EU roadmap of cooperation in the area of justice, freedom and security – is drawing to a close in 2014, the Council discussed the perspectives of the justice and home affairs area. Ministers expressed their expectations based on the Lithuanian Presidency report on the progress achieved and principles for the future justice and home affairs guidelines. It was agreed that the EU should continue work on the set of future guidelines for the area.